VATICAN CITY (CNS): As the 28th anniversary of Pope John Paul I’s brief pontificate approached, one of the priests working on his sainthood cause said the paperwork would be sent to the Vatican by the end of the year.
Cardinal Albino Luciani of Venice, Italy, was elected on August 26, 1978 to succeed Pope Paul VI.
As Pope John Paul I, he served just over a month, dying on September 28.
The diocesan phase of his cause for sainthood formally opened in 2003 in his home Diocese of Belluno and Feltre, Italy.
Vatican Radio reported that Msgr Giorgio Lise, who is vice-postulator of the cause, said on August 17 that 170 witnesses already had been interviewed about the late pope’s life and ministry, and the last remaining interviews would be conducted by early November.
The postulators already had forwarded to the Vatican information about a southern Italian man who believes he was cured of cancer through the intervention of Pope John Paul, Msgr Lise said.
